A Certain Supernatural Mob Character
by Lockheed X-17
Summary: After CLAW's rampage on their hometown, the Kageyama brothers had received a strange letter coming from a certain city, inviting them to study in one of their prestigious schools to further hone their power. Though seemingly suspicious, the brothers had accepted their invitation, not knowing the darkness that lies beyond their path.
1. Prologue, or his first day of classes

still crossposted from SB.

§

Espers. Psychics. Exorcists and Spirit Mediums. They had been known by many names, but they historically referred to those who interact the waywards spirits of the dead, and those who wield powers far beyond the understanding of men. They were people who could interact with the paranormal, and stand within the borders of the natural and the supernatural.

In the recent century, advances in the various fields of science had led to the creation of what would be known as 'espers' in the scientific world. Espers, or those who wield the power to warp the world to their own will, and produce effects that were otherwise impossible according to common sense, was the groundbreaking discovery that shook the very foundations of science itself.

This led to the creation of artificial espers, espers who were created from the application of drugs and various other methods to release the latent power hidden within the recesses of their DNA, and study them even further.

Espers. They were the discovery that had changed the world. They were the discovery that would lead the world to a brighter future.

And to achieve that brighter future, they are willing to do everything it took to reach the future that they envisioned.

_Everything..._

§

Kageyama Shigeo, or just 'Mob' according to those who knew him, was currently walking on his way to school on this bright and sunny day. He had woken up early today, and had prepared all his things just for this moment.

Even though it had been quite some time since he and his brother moved to District 7, Mob still found the various sights around the city to be quite interesting. From the bin-shaped robots that roamed around the sidewalks, to the giant airships that fly around the sky, even those giant wind-turbines that were built all around the city, everything here really was strange, and high-tech.

_Seeing it really is believing, huh?_ Academy City really is advanced, especially when compared to their old place...

Thinking about it, Academy City was also richer compared to Seasoning City, having all these high-tech robots roaming around the streets and all that. Weren't they always featured in those science tech magazines that our teacher used to give us during science class while writing a research or something? He couldn't really remember, as he hadn't been interested in any of those things back then.

He wondered just how much money would one of these robots costs. Perhaps enough to buy a hundred notebooks? Maybe a couple of those fancy computers? A car, maybe? Or a house? He did not know, except that he most likely couldn't afford them even then. Probably. He wasn't really sure, he didn't really know much about robots anyway, except that they were expensive. Though, Ritsu did say that they were basically like janitors, cleaning up the streets and all that. Perhaps that's why they look like trash cans?

When one of those robots moved towards him, he made sure to avoid it, partially because it would be rude to block their path, and mostly because he was afraid that he might break something if he did touch it. It was a bit irritating when it tries to block his way, though, but he still didn't really want to touch them out of fear of being reprimanded by their owners, or by the people around him.

Still, it was still quite amusing to look at them moving about and travelling across the street. It was just like watching ants moving across the ground towards their anthill, or like watching birds flying on the sky.

Suddenly, he heard his phone ringing within his pocket. Was it his Master calling him? He was pretty sure that Master wouldn't call him, especially at these hours. Master did have Serizawa-san and Kurata-san working in his office, after all. And even then, he had Dimple with him, so Master wouldn't be short of hands. And Ritsu was busy with something. What that something was, he didn't really know, but he trusted his brother enough that he decided not to pry much into it.

Mob then took out the phone from his pocket just to know who was calling him.

_No, it wasn't a call or a text._ It was actually just a mistimed alarm he had set the night before.

He sighed, he still wasn't used to setting the alarm on his phone, or doing anything else with it, for that matter. He had only ever used for calls or text, and even then, he didn't really know much about it except the basics. At least Ritsu knew how to operate it, maybe he should ask him about that later? Ritsu is pretty reliable when it comes to things like these, after all.

After checking for messages or missed-calls, and after snoozing the alarm, he returned back to the home-screen and saw the clock on it.

_Oh no._

It was almost eight in the morning, according to the time in his phone. Mob quickened up his pace and hurried.

It wouldn't do if he were to be late on his first day of classes.

§

Mob had arrived on the school. Just in time apparently, at least according to the giant clock that was at the center of the school. Instictively, he checked his clothes and his bag, making sure that he didn't forget anything and that his clothes were neat.

_Ah, the letter! _He quickly rummaged through his pockets, and took it out to read it again, just to make sure. He still had to go to the Principal's office and introduce himself, along with many other things. He still did not know his way around the school, so it will probably take him a while.

He noticed a girl standing infront of the school, she wore some sort of headband that was adorned with various beautiful plants and flowers. Approaching her was another girl, a bit taller than the one with flowers. Aside from that, she appeared quite like the average girl.

_Hmm, _even though he was in Academy City, his new school reminded him a lot of his old school back on Seasoning City.

_"Ui~ ha~ ru~!"_

With one swift motion, the taller girl lifted the other girl's skirt, seemingly with glee.

It was unexpected. It was so unexpected that he found himself looking away, face flushed red in embarrassment. _Was this normal? Do they really do this a lot here? _Academy City really is strange...

"Ah, it's the usual striped-blue panties today, huh?"

"S-Saten-san!"

His face flushed deeper red, and he staggered in his path. He had subconsciously turned his head downwards, and then away from the sight. He really did not want to have such image stuck in his head right now, even if he never actually saw it. He smacked his face and shook his head a couple of times, and quickly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Shaking his head a couple times more, he then walked towards the entrance of the school.

He could probably ask the other students here for direction. Either way, he will most likely be late for his classes.

§

Uiharu Kazari sighed as she looked outside the window. While the lesson right now wasn't really that mind-numbingly boring, she had other things on her mind right now.

_Tap tap tap._

Uiharu felt a quick tapping on her shoulder, and quickly turned towards the person sitting right behind her. It was Saten Ruiko, one of her closest friends in the school, and the girl who kept on lifting her skirt to sneak on her panties, for whatever reason.

"Hey, hey, Uiharu." Saten whispered to her. "Have you heard about that new transfer student who moved here?"

"Transfer student?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Yeah, him." her friend said. "Apparently, he moved here from Seasoning City after that terrorist attack there five months ago."

_Five months ago, huh?_ She remembered a lot of things about it, considering her job. From what she heard, there was some sort of esper terrorist group named CLAW that attacked Seasoning City, and had somehow managed to kidnap the Prime Minister of Japan, along with hacking most of the television and communication systems to declare that they will take over Japan.

CLAW had also managed to somehow penetrate the high-security systems of Academy City, and various streaming services throughout the nation just to declare their insane plan. While the interruption had been short, she remembered that it caused a lot of chaos, especially for the various research facilities who feared a major security breach.

It had been hard work, but Anti-Skill and Judgement managed to keep the public from panicking. She did not know much about what happened to CLAW that day, but apparently, their leader, Touchiro Suzuki, had been defeated and captured, kept in custody within Academy City. Not much is known about him, except that he was estimated to be a Level 5 Gemstone.

Given all the events that happened on that city, it wasn't hard to feel sorry for that transfer student.

"Apparently, he was supposed to repeat his second year here, because of the differences of the curriculum or something." Saten speculated, "And, according to my in-depth research on various reliable sources all over the internet, I hear that he's an esper."

"An esper?" she asked, surprised. It was rare to have espers from outside the city, but it wasn't that surprising either. Even one of the seven Level 5s of their city also came from outside the city. "Wait, by 'in-depth research on various reliable sources' you mean 'browsing on those forums' right?"

"Don't mind the details!" her friend admonished her, shaking her head in mock anger. "Also, from what I found, I hear that he was also at least a Level 4, possibly a Level 5."

"A Level 5?"

"Yeah! There was even a news report and recorded evidence about a school flying into the sky, along with various unexplained destruction of buildings just the past month! Isn't that _cool?!_ Also, there was even some speculation that he crushed that terrorist group alone, can you believe that?"

"Hang on." she stopped her "There was a news report about_ a school flying into the sky?_ Recorded _video evidence_about a school simply_ flying_ towards the _clouds?_"

"You should see it later!" Saten looked at her, her eyes gleaming brightly.

"A-alright, alright! I'll watch it later with you!"

After talking more about various other stuff to pass the time, her attention immediately faded towards the blackboard, which had been filled with various writings and discussion.

_Ah! I forgot to take some notes!_

She immediately pulled out her notebook and began writing as fast as she could, before the teacher would erase the writings on the board.

She didn't notice the time passing on, but the day immediately faded away, and hadn't noticed that it was already dismissal.

On her way to the school entrance, she saw two young boys talking infront of the gate. One of them wore a Nagatenjouki uniform, while the other had a strange-looking bowl cut. From how they both acted, she assumed that the Nagatenjouki boy was the elder brother, even though they looked quite similar in age. Maybe he was fetching his younger brother from school? What a responsible guy...

"Ui~"

_Oh no._

"Ha~"

_Please, no!_

"Ru~!"

_Nooo!_

She felt a sudden rush of air within the spaces between her legs, and heard the sound of her skirt being lifted into the air. She then felt her face grow warmer, and wanted nothing but to disappear right now. She tried in vain to bring down her skirt to keep her dignity intact, but it had been too late. The damage had been done, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Looking around, she could see the faces of her various schoolmates, many of them had turned their faces away from her, their cheeks flushed red with blood. Many of them, mostly guys, looked at her with silly smiles stuck on their silly faces, either laughing or giggling.

She caught sight of the two boys standing near the gate. One of them simply looked away, while the other covered his eyes, and they quickly left the school's premises.

How embarrassing, how embarrassing! For a student from another school to see her like this...

"_Sa-sa-sa-sa-Saten-san!_" she shouted, trying to intimidating the perpetrator with her shaky voice.

"Ah, nice to meet you Uiharu!" Saten said, unfazed from Uiharu's meager intimidation attempt. "Say, you wanted to see that video right?! Let's go!"

"D-d-don't change the subject!" Uiharu replied angrily, but the taller girl ignored her, and Saten quickly ran off.

"Saten-san, w-wait!"

§

Kageyama Ritsu was beginning to have doubts about Nii-san's school, judging from that obscenity they had spotted earlier.

Nii-san shouldn't have transferred to Sakugawa, he thought. This school was too far from Nagatenjouki, and there were many other schools around that were far better compared to Sakugawa.

But since it was Nii-san's choice, then there was nothing else he could do about it. The application letter they had received on that day had listed many possible schools they could attend, but Hanazawa had advised Nii-san to choose Sakugawa for some reason. He didn't really know what both of them had talked about, except that Nii-san told him that they had a talk.

It was a bit suspicious, but Mom had wanted them to accept that invitation after what happened, while Dad wanted them to reject it. They had a fight that night, but soon enough Dad relented, and had allowed them to go and study here.

He did warn them to be careful here, and to be extra cautious of the people living there. It was extremely odd, especially for Dad. It wasn't really like him to act like that, so it was extremely strange.

**Thinking about your older brother again, aren't you? What a bro-con.**

He could hear a voice inside his head, and it wasn't his own. He quickly turned his head around, and saw a boy his age standing right next to a telephone booth.

_Takenaka! Stop fooling inside my head again!_

"Sorry, sorry." the boy snickered as he gazed back to him. "I couldn't help it."

Takenaka Momozou. He had been a member of the Telepathy Club back in their school, before he quit, causing it's disbandment.

Well, it's not as if they had been composed of Telepaths in the first place. As far as he knew, the Telepathy Club had been a useless club of sorts, with Takenaka being the only telepath in that club. Back then, both Nii-san and Takenaka went with the rest of the Telepathy Club in Mud Boat Mountain. From what Nii-san told him, they managed to summon aliens using Takenaka's telepathy, but he really doubted that. At most, they could have probably summoned some spirit or such that pretended to be aliens, but Nii-san would know if they were spirits...

_So what could those things be, then?_

**Why are you asking me? As if I really know what they are, except that they came in a UFO or some shit. They could be those science cults, for all I know.**

"Takenaka!" Ritsu near-shouted. "I told you, stop doing that!"

"Do what, brother-kun?" Takenaka asked in a sarcastically. "I'm doing nothing. Also, stop shouting. People would look at you weirdly like that."

"_Damn you..._"

"Alright, alright. I'll stop." the telepath replied. "Anyway, after the System Scan I'll go with you. After all, you know where that Judgement building is, right?"

Right, Takenaka also signed up with Judgement, so he'll be headed to the same training building as me.

"I suppose we have to introduce ourselves to the 177th branch tomorrow," he said. "Anyway, I have to go back to my apartment, and after that I'll have to visit Nii-san's apartment to check up on him."

"Heh. At that rate, people will end up getting confused about who's the elder brother and such." Takenaka sighed. "But I suppose that's normal, given what you're brother is capable of doing."

There was no way they would forget, especially after what had happened during CLAW's attack on their city. Even know he still didn't understand why they did so, was it because they are capable of doing so? Did they even have a plan? True, Nii-san might be strong enough to crush them all, but even so, if they actually had a plan to conquer Japan, they should have thought of something other than attacking our city, and they wouldn't be defeated that easily either.

He still did not understand it... From what Shou told him, it had something to do with Academy City. But what was it? What was it that made them act that way? He did not know.

_Well, that's the reason I signed up with Judgement, after all. Maybe that would give me some insight as to what CLAW was thinking at that time, or at least that's what I thought back then. Maybe when I get to be a full-time member, I would get a glimpse of that reason..._

"So, I guess I'll take my leave, then." Takenaka said. "See you at school tomorrow. We still have that pain-in-the-ass System Scan to attend to."

And with that, Takenaka plugged back his earphones, and went on his own way as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Ritsu then continued his walk. Nii-san would be waiting for him, after all. Best not to keep him waiting.


	2. Another day in their Brand-New Life

July 16th. Today apparently marks the beginning of the System Scan, where the school would apparently test their esper powers and rank them accordingly depending on how good they were in using their powers.

Today would also mark the second day of his classes, his special classes at least. He would be taking a specialized course, where he would basically study throughout the entire summer due to his circumstances, though he wasn't bothered by it in all honesty.

Mob hadn't really known what the point of the System Scan actually was was, other than because Academy City studied esper powers. Master had told him that in this city, espers are a common sight. And because of that, they often won't hold back when it comes to their powers.

Before he transferred here, Master had told him things about the city. Master said that there were a lot of espers here, and that they ranked themselves according to how powerful their psychic powers are.

In fact, they value their ranking so much that it decided how they should live their life, and how other people would treat them, or at least that was what Master said.

Power isn't everything. Master taught him that. Psychic powers are simply just another part of person, like having a strong heart, or being really smart, or having strong body odor, or being talented at drawing. If he let that one aspect of him decide his life, nothing good would come out of it.

But he knew that it wasn't just that simple. Those six months he spent in Mogami's world made it painfully clear. Those _terrible_ six months, those _accursed_ six months, those _damnable_ six months he had experienced there had been forever etched into his heart, just as he had said.

**23%**

The nightmarish six months he spent in that world had taught him that forming relationships were important. It taught him that they are _absolutely_ important. And without those relationships, he would be nothing but a sad and pathetic husk filled with nothing but bitterness.

While he really did not care for rankings and such, he was told that it was a really important for studying his powers. Those people, the people interested in studying their powers told him that in order to properly study his powers, he should use his all during the System Scan.

He really did not understand their explanation, but from what remembered, it had something to do about_'AIM fields'_and _'high-precision psychokinetic manipulation'_ used to better understand his esper powers, and how he gained them.

According to them, he was a_'Gemstone'_, or someone who had powers naturally instead of going through the 'esper curriculum' or something like that. They said that Gemstones were very rare, and they wanted to learn why that is so, so they could better help people with the knowledge they would gain.

There was nothing wrong with that, in fact, it was quite a noble goal, but he still felt quite conflicted about it. On one hand, he wanted to live simple, fulfilling regular life with his friends. On the other, he also wanted to help these people, even if it means using his own powers.

The decision wasn't really that hard. If using his powers could help others, then he wouldn't think twice about using it. That was his decision after he saw and felt the terrible sadness and pain of the thousands of spirits trapped within Mogami's vessel, and after resolving to save the soul of girl whom Mogami had possessed.

He was currently standing infront of his new school. Currently, there were a lot more people around than yesterday, and they seem to be busy. It was probably because of System Scan happening today.

"Ah, Mob-kun. So you're here too!" He could hear a familiar-sounding voice calling him, followed by the sound of footsteps.

He turned towards the source of the voice, and saw a familiar girl holding a purple camera with her hands.

"Mezato-san," he recognized her, and noticed that she wore the Sakugawa uniform. "You're also studying here?"

"Don't look so surprised, Mob-kun" Mezato replied, playfully wagging her camera infront of him. "You know I'm always looking for an interesting scoop, and what better scoop would there be other than Academy City?"

"Anyway, the System Scan's about to start, so you better hurry and blow them away with your esper powers!"

_I don't think that's how it works, _Mob thought. he knew that the System Scan was composed of some tests like those ESP cards and that egg based on the admission letter he recieved, but then again, he really wasn't sure about that.

"Ah, Mezato-san, do you know where the-"

"Let's go, Mob-kun!" she said, dragging him by the collar as she ran off towards the school with him. "We're gonna be late if you keep being like that!"

§

Uiharu started her day with a good meal. And by 'a good meal', she meant a lot of delicious pastries, cookies, cake, and all!

She was really lucky, being able to get these pastries at a discount. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her, and it was thanks to that grandma she helped the day before.

_Pastries~! Pastries~! _She ate a lot of pastries early this morning, and it was really delicious! She should really visit that grandma's bakery more often, if the pastries she sold were actually this good. Perhaps she should do it daily? No, it wouldn't work. Her expenses wouldn't probably take it. She should make it weekly at least! Sweets and such were only perfect when you craved for them, they would lose their appeal if she kept on eating the same sweet all the time.

After that good meal, she did her daily rituals, taking a bath and changing her clothes into her school uniform. After that, she readied her items and checked them one last time.

And once that was done, she then locked the door to her room and went out of the school dormitory.

It was a rather bright day today, without much clouds and without much shade. She waited on the road, and took the nearest bus she could find on her way to school.

She was dropped of infront of school and saw Saten-san waiting for her at the school's entrance.

"Oh, Uiharu!" Saten-san shouted as waved her hand. "You seem a bit happy today, aren't you?"

"Yeah!" she answered. "The cakes were really delicious!"

"Cake, you mean those gifts that grandma you held yesterday?" Saten said, looking a bit irritated. "Hey, you didn't share them with me! _Greedy!_"

"W-well, you didn't ask me!" she shouted in reply. "Anyway, isn't the System Scan starting?"

"There's not much point for me to join, I'll still be Level 0 either way." Saten replied, her tone clearly. "It's not like I will improve it it..."

Uiharu was taken aback for a bit. Saten was a Level 0, which meant that she was unable to develop powers despite participating in the Power Curriculum. And as for herself, she was a Level 1 who could manipulate thermodynamics, mainly by keeping things at the same temperature regardless of time using her own hands. It wasn't really much use, except when it comes to delivering food.

It was convenient than most, but still useless for most practical purposes. And she can't use it on either very hot or very cold things, as it could still burn her hands.

Suddenly, they heard the school bell ring.

"Ah, it's almost time!" cried Saten. "I still have things to do, so I gotta go!"

"Oh-Alright!" she replied, and waved. "See ya!"

And then, Saten ran off in the distance, and disappeared into the crowd. Looking at the giant clock, there was a bit more time before classes start. After knowing that, she decided to stick around more to look at the people attending the System Scan today.

There were a lot of them, truthfully. While she was still a bit new to this school, she wagered that most of them would probably be Level 1s or 2s, with a couple Level 3s here and there. Level 4s were very rare, and she doubted that they even had them.

Oddly, there were some large equipment placed outside, and there were a lot more trucks and a lot more scientists attending this year. She found it strange, did their school get better focus from research facilities? It would be nice if they did so, but why?

But before she could speculate further, Uiharu decided that she should go to her classroom. Classes were about to start, and there wasn't really a lot she could do he-

_"Ah!"_

_"Oof!"_

There was a person standing infront of her, a boy just about her height. He looked utterly plain, and the only notable feature about him being his bowlcut hair.

"S-sorry!" he exclaimed, the boy had a rather worried look on him as he glanced at her. "A-are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, I'm okay." she replied, her face blushing bright red as she tried to brush it off. "Wh-what about you? Are you okay?"

"Oh, me? Uh, y-yeah." his voice sounded quite shaky. "S-sorry, I was in a hurry."

"A-alright.. _ahehehe..._" she said, and simply brushed it off while laughing nervously.

"_A-anyway_," the boy spoke, seemingly in a hurry. "I got to go, sorry."

"Ah, _um... Me too.._." and she lowered down her head. Ah, that boy dropped his wallet!

"Uhh... H-hey! Uh, y-you there! You dropped your wallet!" she shouted, but the boy was already nowhere to be seen. She then instictively went out to look for him, but remembered that she still had classes to go back to.

She then quickly decided that she should probably take custody of his items, and then return it to him later. Yes, that would probably do. Still, it still made her quite uneasy. It was that boy's wallet, and not hers.

Uiharu placed that boy's items in her bag, and then hurried towards her classroom.

She felt a bit sorry for him, but her classes couldn't wait. After all, she wouldn't want to end up having that dreaded extra homework to those who come late...

§

The System Scan was a confusing place for Mob, there were many professors and examiners standing around here. Mezato-san had to rush towards her classroom, she didn't really have psychic powers, and the examiners said that only those who had psychic powers were allowed to participate.

He really felt that it shouldn't be like that, that they should be allowed to participate, but those professors said that they need to study esper powers. Mezato-san didn't have powers (or at least as far as he knew), and would be unable to do things that require powers. It would be impossible to ask normal people to make things float using telekinesis.

He felt rather conflicted, even if it was minor.

"Ah, you must be Kageyama-kun, yes?"

He was suddenly approached by an old man wearing a labcoat. Perhaps one of the examiners? Hee looked even older than Father...

"Ah-Uhm, yes!" Mob replied. "My name is Kageyama Shigeo!"

The old man first looked at him in surprise, and them smiled warmly. "Well then, please follow me."

The kind-looking old man lead him towards a group of other similar-looking people. They looked busy at first; doing things with their machines and their gadgets. But when the old man introduced him towards the crowd, they immediately stopped whatever they were doing and flocked towards him.

Mob felt very nervous, and was rather flustered by being surrounded by these people. They were asking him a lot of questions, and a lot of those questions overlapped with each other, and a lot of those questions he simply couldn't understand. He got extremely flustered, and instinctively backed off.

"Now now let's not make the boy nervous." the old man said. "Let's keep it one at a time."

The crowd gave him some space, and the old man told him to enter a booth. Apparently, they were going to measure his psychic abilities, somehow. He still didn't understand how they would do that, he wasn't that smart, but he followed his instructions regardless.

When he arrived in the booth, he was then met with several other examiners who seemed quite surprised. One of them instructed him to bend this piece of metal in a certain angle. He did as he was told, and did it some more. It was repetitive, but after a couple or so tests, they were satisfied.

He wondered just how much of these metal bars did they have, it would be rather embarassing if he bent all of them.

After that test, he was then ushered towards another booth. This time, they had eggs on their table. Are they serving food? It doesn't seem like it, there weren't any plates or silverware around that he could see.

One of the examiners told him that they were going to do another test, this time with eggs. He was told that he was supposed to balance the eggs upside-down on the surface.

It was a rather simple enough, he made several of the eggs stand upside down for several minutes. The examiners looked rather surprised when he did so, and was told to do it again, with some changes. He was even told to make them spin around, and at one time, to stack them upwards without breaking them.

Mob found it a bit strange, were they really doing tests or were they playing around? The examiners seemed rather busy writing down some things on their... strange devices, so he was rather afraid to ask about it.

After that, there was another test. And after that, there was another. And another. And another. Many of those tests took place within the field, or inside one of those prefab rooms. There were many tests that day, they asked him to move things with his telekinesis, or guess what card they had on their hands. they had also asked him to send a telepathic message towards one of the students, and even asked to measure his blood and take samples to properly examine it. Apparently, that last part was something about 'wanting to analyze his genetic structure' or whatnot. He really didn't understand it much, but they assured him that it would really help their research if he complied.

Well, if it could help their research, then he should probably take their tests seriously and follow their instructions, even if it was complicated...

Mob sighed. If Ritsu were here with him, or if it was Ritsu doing these tests, he would probably understand what these examiners were doing. His brother was really smart, after all, and Ritsu could easily do these tests without problem too.

He looked towards the sky, it was already close to lunchtime. The examiners told him they they should take a break in the meantime, it wouldn't do if he was tired during the tests, they said.

Well, it was already breaktime, so he should buy some lunch. He placed his hand towards his pocket to take out his wallet.

But his wallet wasn't there. Neither was his phone. They weren't here, where were they, where are they?! He rifled through all his pockets, and rummaged through his bag, but they couldn't be found. They could not be found. They weren't here, not here either!

_Wait..._

**26%**

_Oh._

**27%**

_Oh no..._

**28%**

He had accidentally bumped into a girl earlier this morning, he couldn't remember her face, but he remembered that he had his hands on his pockets that time, and he had reached out to her when he almost slipped.

In an instant, he bolted through the field, running to the place where he remembered bumping into that girl.

**29%**

But it wasn't there. He tried looking around for that girl too, but he couldn't find her. There were various unfamiliar faces around here, he wasn't sure if he could even find her.

His stomach growled. Maybe he'll have to skip lunch for today. It would make both Mom and Dad angry, but he had no choice.

At least, that was what he thought...

"Oh, if it isn't Kageyama-kun!" he heard a voice say, followed by a tap on his shoulders. "You aren't eating your lunch, right?"

He turned around, and saw a certain chesnut-haired photographer-slash-reporter. "M-Mezato-san!"

"Right, right." Mezato replied "Sorry about earlier, I was told that we were going to have classes, so I had to leave you like that."

"No, i-it wasn't a problem!" he told her. "It really wasn't!"

Mezato half-chuckled, "You never really change, huh... Well, care to join me at lunch? It'll be my treat."

His stomach growled. It would be impolite of him to reject her, so Mob had no choice but to agree with the reporter's tempting proposition...

**30%**

"A-alright then," he said. "I'll go with you..."

"Then let's go! We have no time to waste!"

The reporter took his arm and dragged him as they both ran into the corridors and through the halls of Sakugawa Middle School. His feet tired, and he had built up quite the sweat, but he could still carry on. He did not built up his muscles in the Body Improvement Club for nothing. He will carry on!

At least, that was what he thought before he almost passed out due to hunger.

§

It was already lunch. Saten decided to meet up with her friend so that the could eat lunch together. She was already headed to their classroom, but before she even arrived there, she saw Uiharu run through the hallways, as if looking for someone.

"Where is he, where is he... Oh, Saten-san!" she cried, her voice shifting abruptly as she greeted her friend.

"Yo, Uiharu!" Saten replied, and noticed that. "You look busy, what is happening?"

"Ah, well..." Uiharu's face was full of worry and panic, her body fluttering in various ways and in various directions. It took her a few seconds to sufficiently calm down, before she began explaining her predicament

"So, you mean that you have to return the wallet that boy dropped early this morning?" asked Saten, clarifing what Uiharu stated earlier.

"Well, yes." the girl confirmed. "The problem is, I couldn't remember his face! The only thing I could remember is that he had a strange bowlcut hairstlye..."

Wait, a bowlcut hairstyle? She could remember a certain someone with a bowlcut, yet she couldn't remember who it was. Perhaps from a picture she saw before? Or was it from online? Saten was very sure she just recently saw him, but she wasn't sure when, and she was not sure why.

"Have you checked the wallet, then?" she asked the girl.

Uiharu was shocked, and her face almost looked as pale as a ghost for a few seconds. When she realized what Saten meant, her face turned beet red in embarassment.

Quickly, Uiharu took out the wallet, and opened it. When it was opened, they both saw his ID, as well as the slightly large amount of money inside one of it's pockets.

No way...

"I-I know that face!" exclaimed Saten with glee. "It's that transferee I told you about yesterday!"

"Transferee?" her friend asked. Uiharu's face looked a bit confused. Wait, she didn't remember that?

"Anyway, I think I know where to find him." she said. "If I'm not mistaken, he should be participating in the System Scan."

Uiharu's eyes gleamed in amazement, but Saten hadn't noticed it.

"Let's hurry, then!" her friend said, and they quickly ran through the halls in search of the owner of this wallet. They first searched throughout the field, asking the people around if they have seen a boy with a bowlcut hair. Lucky for them, a lot of people seem to know him, and told them that he had left earlier to take his lunch.

Strange, despite being a recent transferee, he seemed to be quite popular. Perhaps the rumours about him were true, then? That he is a powerful esper?

So they then headed towards the canteen. There were a lot of students there, so it took them a while to look around for the. But they did find him, just not in the way that he expected.

The boy right infront of them, the owner of the wallet they were currently trying to return to, was currently slumped on one of the seats, sweating profusely with a face that seemed deathly pale. The person sitting opposite him, a chesnut-haired girl with a camera dangling on her neck, didn't seem to mind, though.

"Excuse me but," the girl spoke. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Uiharu locked up, but Saten took over, and replied; "Uhm, me and my friend found a wallet. We think he... er... We're returning it to him..."

The boy then jerked upwards. His face still looking pale and sweaty, but he looked relieved when he saw his wallet.

"Ah! Thank you! Thank you!" the boy spoke, "Thank you very much!"

"Ehehehe... It's nothing, it's nothing."

After some introductions and talk, both Uiharu and Saten decided that they should all eat together. The boy had introduced himself as Kageyama Shigeo, and the girl with the camera introduced herself as Mezato Uchi. The former didn't even have any sort of characteristics to speak of, he looked utterly like a normal middle-school student. The latter, though, had insisted that he was some sort of super powerful esper who even had a cult centered around him. Kageyama-san denied it though, saying that he had never heard of such thing before.

Mezato-san kept on saying things about that cult throughout their conversation, connecting him to the Psycho Helmet cult that seemed to be getting traction online, until Kageyama-san tried to shift the subject to how strange Academy City was, and how different it was compared to what he heard when he still lived outside.

It failed. Miserably.

They kept on talking, and talking, until after an hour or so, when the school bell rang. Kageyama-san had excused himself, and headed outside. Classes were about to start again, so the three girls that were left dispersed and headed to their own classrooms.

Uiharu looked a bit more better now, perhaps relieved that the wallet had been returned to his rightful owner. She had returned to her usual self, it seems. Normally, Saten would have flipped over Uiharu's skirt, and look at her panties by now. But she had other things on her mind right now, specifically about that boy...

She was sure she had heard that name before, along with that face, but he doesn't seem to be the person she had in mind while reading those rumours. In fact, he seemed weak, underwhelming even. He looked just like the average student, instead of that overwhelmingly powerful esper (a natural esper, nonetheless) she had heard from those rumours she found on the internet.

_Well, perhaps the rumours weren't always right?_ She did had her doubts, after all, and some rumours always end up getting exaggerated more that they actually are.

She looked out towards the window, the teacher's lesson passing from one ear to another. She had not really understood the point of studying 'personal realities' and whatnot, rather, she would have preferred if they taught them lessons on how to increase their esper powers. And even then, their lessons on esper powers might not end up being useful for her in the future. She doubted that powerful espers would be useful as consultants and office workers, but at least they still get attention, perhaps a contract or two from research institutes wanting to study esper powers or something like that. _Unlike Level 0s..._

She tried to ignore it, and focused her eyes on the field laying just outside their window. She saw that the examiners were unpacking something large outside. There were some really huge boxes, and they were carried by what seemed to be heavy-duty robots she would usually see around factories and warehouses.

Those industrial robots carried some of those giant boxes, and placed one at the other end of the field. They assembled some sort of giant metallic-looking wall, and after that, they placed a giant rectangular gelatinous mass just a few meters from the wall. It had just recently solidified, from the rumours she heard early lunch it seemed that the had to make the gel in the field, and it had just solidified as of now.

The gelatin was set horizontally on the ground and was supported by various metal bars around it. It had a length about three meters, was a meter tall and half a meter in width. From what she could tell about it's colour and opacity, it was like one of those ballistic jelly she saw in those sniper videos online. Though, this one didn't have organs in it, and was way more larger.

On the other side of the field, about 500 meters from the gelatin, there was a table. There was a box sitting on the table, though she couldn't tell what was inside it.

She waited a bit more, and saw that the examiners were approaching the table. They measured the distance of the gelatin and the table, and then created a line on the sand. After that was done, they then approached a student who had been sitting nearby.

Wait. That hair looks familiar... Wasn't he the owner of that wallet Uiharu returned earlier? It was Kageyama-san! What was he doing there?!

Kageyama-san stood on the line, and talked with the examiners for a while. A few minutes later, the examiners left, and the boy took out something from the box on the table. What the object was, she couldn't quite tell, and it seemed that Kageyama also hadn't also known what it was, as he was also examining it. After examining the object, coupled with some quick glances to the gelatin, he began stretching his hand outwards, pointing towards the gelatin on the other end.

He opened his palms, she couldn't quite understand what he was doing, and then...

And then, something happened. It was almost instantaneous, there was a gust of wind, the sound of something cracking, and then the gelatin bounced backwards. Beside him, the box on the table began to float, and it's contents began flying outwards, creating a greyish ring of mass surrounding himself. Kageyama-san's arm twitched again, and sent them hurling towards the gelatin.

The gelatin kept on bouncing, and bouncing, and the ring surrounding the esper became thinner and thinner, until the ring was no more. The ballistic gelatin looked as if it had been shredded with it's insides spilling outwards, along with whatever the contents of that box were.

That performance had left her totally breathless, her mouth left agape. She couldn't believe what she saw. True, she had expected that person to be an esper, but she didn't expect him to be this powerful... Perhaps those rumours were true, then? Those rumours she heard of online, she knew that it was, for some reason, true.

Her thoughts were further confirmed, or at least that was how it sounded to her, when the examiners announced his rating on the microphone

**"Measurements— Initial Velocity: 892.9 m/sec. Continuous Fire: 1500-3500 shots/min. Target Deviation: 27.1mm"**

**"Overall Performance: Level 5"**

The announcement had sent ripples throughout the entire school body. Even to those who weren't watching the boy's performance, they could hear the announcer's voice through the giant speakers, and all of them paused.

A Level 5, never had their school, the relatively meek and humble Sakugawa Middle School, been graced by the presence of the all-powerful Level 5, much less have a Level 5 actually appear in their school and participate in the System Scan.

Well, if those rumours were actually true or not, she would have to find out.

Saten Ruiko had decided that she would get to know this rumour-filled boy.

§

It was already late afternoon, and the System Scan was already finished for today.

Ritsu yawned. It had been a tiring affair, the examiners had kept on pestering him with a lot of questions during the examination. And then there were those annoying tests. He had never felt so exhausted in his life, and he had never felt so tired when he used his powers. Especially that Columbus egg, he nearly burst his veins trying to keep the egg steady without breaking it's shell.

Ritsu really hadn't expected to have this much trouble with that Columbus egg test. In fact, he hadn't expected that such a simple-looking task was actually so hard...

If it were Nii-san, he surely could have done this without much trouble, he thought. Especially given what he saw during that time... That battle... Even now it still made him shiver, that immense and overwhelming power, that battle that went far beyond common sense, the impossible battle that he and many others bore witness to, the battle between Nii-san and Shou's father.

That impossible gap between them, the insurmountable gap between him and his brother... It loomed far above in the horizon, a giant wall that seemed to reach beyond the skies, and pierce the heavens itself. Nii-san was really powerful, compared to himself.

But even then, Nii-san hadn't let his power get over his head. Instead of using his powers to get whatever he wanted, or relying on it too often, Nii-san had wanted to improve himself in other ways, and to become even better as a person.

_Really now, I shouldn't compare myself to Nii-san... Nothing good would come out from doing it. _

Right now, he was currently headed to Judgement's 177th branch. It was a fair distance from his school, but he had arrived earlier than he would have expected. Academy City's transportation system was really something else, Ritsu thought.

"Oh, brother-kun! It took you long."

He turned his head towards the boy beside him. "Give me a break, Takenaka. You didn't even participate in it."

"I don't really care about such things," the telepath said, his tone a bit flat and a bit grave. "Plus, it's really a hassle, especially with all those thoughts they have within their head."

Ritsu looked a bit more puzzled. "Why'd you join Judgement, then?"

Takenaka only chuckled in response, "Because it is fun? I mean, what other reason would I have other than that?"

Yeah, he really have doubts about that. Takenaka wasn't that kind of person, as far as he knew.

You're getting better everyday, brother-kun. Though, I'd rather leave things at that, you know what I'm saying?

_Stop getting in my head, you creep._

**You're no fun, brother-kun. Also, it's not polite to call other people creeps, y'know? Especially to those who are older than you, most especially those who could read your mind.**

Just get out of my head!

**Fine, fine. Killjoy...**

And with that, Takenaka plugged his earphones back in, a smile creeping on his face. "I guess people here really aren't careful with their own thoughts, now aren't they?"

The two of them had entered the building, and were greeted by a middle-school student who seemed to be younger he was, and perhaps a bit more shorter than he was. The girl had worn a rather unfamiliar beige uniform, and had her long bubble-gum pink hair tied into a twintail. Her uniform also had a rather short skirt, which was rather revealing, unfitting of a girl her age.

"Ah, you must be the newbies that Uiharu was talking about." she spoke. For some reason, she reminded him of Vice-President Tokugawa from his old school.

"Greetings." Ritsu replied. "My name is Kageyama Ritsu, and this person beside me is Momozou Takenaka. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Takenaka seemed to shake when his name was mentioned, or was it just his imagination?

"Yes, yes. I already know both of your names." she said dismissively. "I am Shirai Kuroko, now follow me."

She then lead them towards a room inside the building, and were then introduced to the two other members they were going to work with; Konori Mii and Uiharu Kazari. Judging from how this 'Shirai Kuruko' introduced them, it seems that Konori-san was the leader of this branch of Judgement.

_Hmmm, how strange.._. He was sure that he already saw this Uiharu person somewhere... Had he? When he had introduced himself, he also noticed that she stirred, only to shake her head.

"Now, with all the pleasantries done and all, shall we begin the orientation?" spoke the pink-haired girl.

"To begin with, we need to know what you are capable of." Konori-san spoke. "More specifically, I want to know your esper powers."

Powers, huh? Was Academy City really that obsessed with esper powers? Well, it's not that he couldn't understand. He too had been obsessed before he acquired them.

_Wait, before all of that, hadn't they received a form regarding their identities and abilities? _While it wasn't rather strange if Takenaka didn't, he was pretty sure he himself had submitted it the yesterday evening.

"Let's begin with you, Kageyama-san." the leader said. "We would want to see what you can do.

_Well then, if she insisted... _He raised his right hand, and applied his power on the pink-haired girl. She was small, and presumably light, so it would presumably lessen the strain of his powers that if he lifted anyone else. Slowly, she was lifted upwards, a few centimeters up in the air.

"W-whoa!" Shirai-san exclaimed. "I-I'm floating!"

"As you can see, I am a telekinetic." he said. "According to the System Scan I participated earlier, I am a Level 3, whatever that means... I can make a lot of things float and stuff, as well as create barriers using my power."

"Amazing..." he heard the girl with the flowery headband say.

"Well, I guess that telekinesis is rather versatile..." Konori spoke. "It would be very useful in many scenarios, especially during hostile encounters."

"Oi oi!" the pink-haired girl near-shouted. "C-can you put me down now! I'm getting a bit sick!"

"Ah, sorry!" he apologized, and then slowly placed her on the ground. For some reason, Takenaka seemed to look rather disgusted for a second, before his face relaxed, and pushed his earphones even deeper into his ears.

Suddenly, Shirai-san vanished in mid-air, only to reappear on the nearest couch, slumped and sick. _W-what the hell? A teleporter?_

"Shirai-san is a Level 4 teleporter." Konori-san explained. "She could teleport herself and various objects into various locations. If you want to ask for the specifics, you have to ask her, though."

Ritsu didn't like teleporters. He had grown rather wary of of them, especially after their city got wrecked. That CLAW teleporter had once beat the shit out of him, Hanazawa and those 7th Division SCARs once before, and that bastard even had the audacity to look smug when he crushed them.

Takenaka, meanwhile, looked rather irritated, and fixed his earphones even more. He swore that he could hear his teeth grit or something.

"Takenaka, is there something wrong?" he asked him. The boy glared at him quite angrily, and then glared at the girl sitting on the couch.

"Nothing." Takenaka replied, tone somewhat irritated and annoyed. "Anyway, I am a Telepath. I can also read minds, but it's very annoying..."

"I've never heard of a telepath that could read minds," Konori-san spoke. "From what I know, that's supposed to be very difficult because every person has a different kind of thinking pattern. I don't know the details, but telepaths are limited to only sending messages to the mind."

Takenaka smirked for a moment, and turned his gaze towards Shirai-san. "Like I said, it's very annoying, trust me. You don't wanna know how what kind of disgusting shit lies inside a human brain. Especially the nasty stuff" he said, before he shivered in disgust.

_Yeah, it's annoying, he says. Trust me, he says. What a liar..._

**Just shut up, alright?**

_Out! Get out of my head! Stop reading my mind!_

"Well, I agree with Konori-san. Telepaths aren't supposed to be able to read minds because every person has their thoughts arranged very differently since birth. It's very difficult to translate someone else's thoughts into something you could feasibly understand, let alone translate it."

Shirai-san stood up, looking a bit more okay compared to earlier.

"At least that's what I heard." she continued. "From what I know, there are some kinds of espers with mental-related powers who could, on some level, read minds. The Level 5 Esper known as Mental Out, for instance, is sorta-kinda capable of doing so, as her ability to manipulate someone's mind requires an ability to understand the thoughts and the personality of the person being targeted to some degree, but it is mostly her being a genius when it comes to Psychology."

"So, I am not a telepath then?" asked Takenaka.

"At least according to the standards of Academy City." she replied. "Haven't you taken the System Scan?"

Takenaka seemed to pause, and then he spoke. "I don't like the examiners."

"Wait, so you haven't participated in the System Scan earlier?!" Ritsu near-shouted in surprise. "Then what the hell were you doing?"

"They said I was a telepath." Takenaka answered. "What, you didn't think that I skipped it? I'm not that foolish."

_It's kinda confusing... _Then again, this is Academy City, where everything is 20 to 30 years more advanced than anywhere else.

"I dunno," said Shirai-san, who was looking at the telepath rather skeptically. "You seem kinda fishy..."

"Alrighty then, you leave me no choice." Takenaka sighed in resignation, and then he spoke.

"You have 27 sets of erotic underwear hidden underneath your bed inside a suitcase, all of them having different themes and different styles. You bought them from different stores and from different designers, all of them are quite expensive..."

"Wha—?!"

"You brought them all using the money the school gives you on a monthly basis, and you are planning to buy a couple new ones this Saturday. Also, you're planning to present them to your roommate every night when she appears to seduce, which fails miserably because you're an idiot."

"W-wha-wha-what are you t-t-t-talking about?! That's nons—"

"You also stole your roomate's panties and hid them inside the same suitcase where you hid your underwear, and every night you open it to—oh, how embarrasing! You even call yourself a proper lady?!"

"L-lies! Lies! T-t-those aren't true! Those aren't true!"

"And those are the ones on the surface." Takenaka smiled smugly, seemingly pleased with himself. "I can continue divulging your dirty little secrets, if you want. Anyway, every night, whenever everyone is asleep in your dorm, you stealthily unlock the latches of your suitcase to take out those specific panties, and then you would immediately ru—"

"Stop! Stop! I beg of you, please! Just! STOP!" Shirai-san shouted as she immediately teleported towards him.

Well... that certainly was... too much information... He never thought that Takenaka was the type to divulge secrets using his powers, especially such_... _err, _sensitive_ information...

As both Takenaka and Shirai-san fought, he heard Konori-san speak.

"A-alright then... That was... quite informative!" she says. "Anyway, I don't think that's just telepathy. That's just straight up Psychometry!"

Konori-san tried to shift the subject from... the thing that Takenaka just revealed. He understood if people aren't comfortable with that kind of thing. _That's just creepy..._

"Y-yeah!" Uiharu-san joined in changing the subject. "Based on your explanation, that's Psychometry!"

Shirai-san looked at them, eyes releasing tears of joy.

"H-Having another Psychometer could make a l-lot of our jobs m-much easier!" Uiharu mused nervously as she continued speaking.

"Well, while it could make some of our work easier, we still have to handle a lot of paperwork, especially when arresting criminals." Konori-san countered Uiharu-san's explanation.

Takenaka glared at Shirai-san for quite some time as they fought, until the twin-tailed teleporter released her hands from his mouth. They continued staring at one another, until Shirai-san spoke. "A-alright, Alright! I accept! I accept! Please, just don't do it again! I beg of you!"

The mind-reading boy merely grinned. Had he used his powers to negotiate something with Shirai-san?

Once things cooled down, Konori-san pulled out two armbands from some drawer, and handed it to the two new recruits.

"A-anyways, now that we're done with all that, welcome to Judgement branch 177th. Kageyama-san, Takenaka-san." Konori-san said, as she shifted the subject even further. "Currently, you are considered as provisionary members of this district's Judgement branch."

They both took the armbands from her, and Ritsu decided to put it into his pocket.

"Wearing these armbands gives you the authority of a full-fledged member of Judgement," she explained. "You would be given more leeway when it comes to dealing with criminals, especially when it comes to using your powers. As a member of Judgement, it is your duty to preserve the peace of Academy City, which gives you the power to apprehend and arrest troublemakers throughout the district, keep them out of the streets and keep them from making troubles."

_Hmm... seems kinda familiar..._

"Though, with that power comes responsibility." Konori-san continued. "While you are allowed to use your powers to some degree, it doesn't mean that you are free to do it everytime as you wish. Also, as a member of Judgement, it is expected that you follow and uphold the law of both Japan and of Academy City. You are also expected to comply with Anti-Skill, who are also the peacekeepers of this city, and follow their instructions when needed. They are our teachers after all."

Wait, so Judgement is basically composed of students, and Anti-Skill is composed of educators? And they both act as the policing force of this city? Strange...

"Hold on, you mean that Anti-Skill is composed of teachers? Purely teachers?" Takenaka asked, taken aback by that tidbit of information.

"Essentially, yes." Shirai-san answered. "Basically, Judgement is composed of students, most of which have esper powers, while Anti-Skill is composed of teachers and professors, who are armed with the latest equipment developed here in Academy City. Tanks, power-armour, guns, you name it, they have it."

Takenaka whistled.

"Earlier, we had encountered a robbery and hostage situation involving some do-no-good espers in District 7 Park. While we had been able to apprehend them before Anti-Skill could arrived, it had happened when some of our members were present in the area, along with a Level 5 esper."

That robbery? He had remembered something about a robbery happening hours earlier, sometime after classes had ended. From what he heard, the espers were arrested by a teleporter and some girl called the Railgun. He hadn't really followed on who or what the Level 5s are, but he did get the impression that she was pretty destructive based on what that name implies.

"Because we are rather lacking when it comes to manpower, we are sometimes unable to prevent crimes from happening, and apprehend the culprits. So, to solve this issue, starting tomorrow you two will begin patrolling around the area during your break-times." Konori-san continued. "Well, in the event that you get late, don't worry. As members of Judgment, you are allowed to have some leeway when it comes such. Though, you are still required to attend classes and have passing grades, and in the event that you do miss out on some important tests and classes due to Judgement work, you are required to take special exams and make-up classes before continuing on with Judgement work."

_Seems reasonable enough,_ Ritsu thought. Though, perhaps he had to reschedule some of his activities, as it would eventually conflict with Judgement at some point or another.

"So, you mean that because Judgement is short in staff, we had to fill it up by doing things like patrolling and shit?" Takenaka asked.

"Essentially." Shirai-san spoke. "Though, with my teleportation and Uiharu's skills when it comes to things related to technology, it's easier than it would normally be."

"Gee thanks." Takenaka replied. "I couldn't wait to be stuck with this annoying brat tomorrow."

She merely glared at him, and Takenaka snorted in return.

After some more discussion about what Judgement does and what it stands for, along with some talk about what they are supposed to do and about their patrolling schedules, they finished at about 6:00, or just about time before the enforced curfew.

He went back home, to the dorms where both he and his brother were currently living in. Along the way, he had brought some groceries for tomorrow, and perhaps for this week. The fish had been on bargain, and he was lucky enough to buy them before that highschooler with spiky hair did. He also brought some eggs, oil, some salt, and milk. He couldn't forget the milk, Nii-san really liked the milk sold here in Academy City. He could never forget the milk.

When he opened the door, he noticed Nii-san holding a broom.

"Ah, Ritsu." Nii-san greeted him. "Welcome home."

"I'm home." he replied, before taking off his shoes and replacing them with slippers. After that, he immediately went to the kitchen, and placed them on the table.

Ritsu immediately began cooking food for dinner. Nii-san wasn't really a good cook, and it wasn't always healthy to rely on instant noodles and canned goods. Cooking curry was a rather simple affair for him, and he also began cooking some rice.

Nii-san then finished up sweeping the floor, and prepared the table. Nii-san had always preferred doing things without the use of his powers, and Ritsu hadn't really understood it before he himself had gained these powers.

It turned out that there wasn't really much difference between using telekinesis to do work and just doing it by yourself. It was still tiring either way, and it gets far too difficult if he tried doing something very complicated, like trying to sweep the entire room along with the roof all at once using thirteen brooms. Though, it seems that his brother wasn't affected by that kind of thing, Nii-san just really liked doing things without using his powers.

When he was finished cooking, they began eating. The television was turned on, and was set on the news. They reported the robbery event that Konori had been talking about earlier, and it really had ended up quite destructively as he had imagined.

"So, uh... Ritsu." his brother spoke. His face looked a bit troubled. Had something happened earlier?

"What was it, Nii-san?" Ritsu asked, looking concerned.

"About this System Scan... Apparently, I was ranked as a Level 5 by the examiners." he said. "I was supposed to have a title or so, but I couldn't really decide. They said that if I couldn't really decide, the school could choose..."

A title huh? Ritsu thought as he held a piece of chicken with his chopsticks. "So, like _'Railgun'_ or _'Accelerator'_?" he asked.

"Like that, I guess." Nii-san replied. "It's supposed to describe what I could do with my esper powers, or something like that."

Ritsu began thinking of various possible names his brother can use. Maybe _Psyche? Kinesis? _No... It could probably work as superhero names, but those are just really cheesy. Maybe something like that Railgun girl, perhaps Kinetic Bombardment? It could work, but I doubt Nii-san would want to be called as such... Think, think!

"What about Mover?" his brother asked, but it was quickly shot down by Ritsu. _Too bland, too vague._ It should be descriptive, colourful. _Telekinesis?_ No, that's bland too, and it's too much like _Kinesis_ to be tasteful. _Worldshaker?Earthquake? Armageddon?_ No, that's going too far... It should be something simple, but scientific, and cool-sounding too!

_Wait, telekinesis it the power to move objects using esper powers. Objects move it they are imparted with force. Kinetic force. Kinetic energy. Movement..._

"Say, Nii-san. What kind of tests did you take during the System Scan?"

"Hmm..." his brother began humming in thought. "There were many of them, but one of them was hitting this giant block of gelatin with some kind of metal object from a distance."

Hitting it with a gelatin? It's kinda like a sniper, but considering what his brother was capable, maybe a machine gun was more fitting. _Gatling gun? Autocannon? Grenade launcher? Nuke?_ No, that's also too far, and it wasn't funny either. It really wasn't.

"The examiners keep on telling me that they never really knew how my telekinesis works, they said it doesn't really 'push' things using a known force... They said it was like a phantom force or so..."

"Phantom force?"

"Yeah, I don't really understand it." Nii-san continued. "They said it was more like I was making them move towards different direction without actually 'imparting force' like in telekinesis or 'Psychokinesis' or so as they say."

Wait, that's a good name. _Phantom Force_, no,_Phantom Movement!_ Phantom Force sounds a lot like a group name, and Phantom Movement doesn't sound destructive, and probably is _chuuni_ enough to match_'Meltdowner'_ and _'Dark Matter'_. He never really understood why that other Level 5 was called Meltdowner. It sounded a bit uncreative, in his opinion. A bit stupid too, also in his opinion.

"You could call yourself _'Phantom Movement'_, then." Ritsu stated, and then continued chowing down on his meal. "It sounds good enough, so you should go for it."

"_Phantom Movement_, huh..." his brother thought. "O-okay then... Phantom Movement it is."

After that, they finished eating, and Nii-san washed the plates. There was a cockroach in the living room, and Ritsu screamed in panic. His brother then quickly rushed on the scene, and lifted the cockroach with his telekinesis away from him and the food, and sent that disgusting creature out of their dorm. Nii-san really was reliable when it comes to things like that, not even Ritsu could deal with cockroaches, or most bugs for that matter. They were icky and creepy, and he did not like them. Not even a single bit.

He should probably buy insecticide. There was one of those experimental insecticides in the store that was said to be able to kill cockroaches in just 2 seconds flat with just one spray. Yes, he should probably buy two, seven, no—a ten. Ten should suffice.

_Yes, yes... _I should buy them tommorrow, first thing in the morning.

Ritsu couldn't sleep well that night, and woke up very tired the next day. He guessed that it was because of those blasted insects.

After a hearty meal and a warm bath, he went of to the bedroom to change clothes, and looked at the closet rather warily. Nii-san told him that he would have to move all the insects outside after waking up having one over his head (how Nii-san was able to handle those insects so effortlessly, he had no clue) so Ritsu was told to leave quite early.

As he left home, he saw a bug skittering off outside the window, which he immediately

_Yep. two dozen of those insecticide sprays it is. _He immediately reached out to his notepad and wrote it down as urgent.


End file.
